Your extremely cute bunny photo worked. I'm here. :)

Again I find myself agreeing with you 100%. There are always people who just do not get it. When it's okay for them to demand that this is what they want and they won't settle for less and when they should compromise. Your example of the dinner is just... so infuriating but a perfect example of someone really self centered person who didn't think things at all from other perspective.

In most cases that I've experienced I've thought that those people who demand privileges for themselves failing to see what it does to other people are usually the same people who cry out immediately if someone else does that same thing to them.

I used to know a person who was always late and/or rescheduled meetings all the time. Not because she was easy going or forgetful (which I can understand a bit better than some other reason), it was because (and she made it crystal clear every time) she was so busy and important and that she had so many things to do all the time and that she was indispensable to all the people around her. She rescheduled meetings where more than one person was coming, (3 to 5 people where everyone had to come) but failed to inform that to everyone. Afterwards she just stated that she thought that that one person she told would inform the rest. She was usually always late 5 to 30 minutes and always left early because she was so busy. But at the very instant if someone else came one minute after she had come, she pointed out how much that person was late. Or if someone else had to postponed a meeting, she pointed out that too in later meetings. I was really ashamed for her when she lectured that other one in our group how it messed up her life at that time so much.

Needless to say there were other issues too that all seemed to come from the fact that she though she was more important than others in same situations. Her actions always appeared to me as total lack of respect to other people, their lives, needs and wants.

As I said, I used to know her. Well, I still know her, but am as little as possible involved with her. And fortunately that is incredibly little.

Then there are those people who may seem a bit similar in their actions, a bit self centered, but aren't that bad. Some are self centered in that way that you know you probably would not tolerate them in private life but you can work with them. Do business with them. And then there are those friends or acquaintances that you know you should never do business with because they just are too self centered in some other way.

Everyone should take care of themselves, but as you said:

a balance needs to be found; a give and take. When we go to one extreme or the other it will end up being to the detriment of both ourselves and the community or family.